


Standing up

by Isidar_Mithrim



Series: Have a biscuit [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Canon Compliant, Carrows Reign at Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Army, Gen, Ginger Newt, Gryffindor Pride, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Minerva's POV, Missing Scene, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 02:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20323954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isidar_Mithrim/pseuds/Isidar_Mithrim
Summary: Minerva is powerless in front of Carrows’ tortures, painfully aware there’s only one way to protect her students: don’t protect them.She also knows that, if Dumbledore was still alive, nothing like that would happen, and she can’t help thinking she failed her most important duty: to keep Hogwarts safe… to keep Hogwartshome.It will be her own students to prove her that hope isn’t lost yet.{Second installment of the ‘Have a biscuit’ series, but it can be read independently}





	Standing up

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Biscotti allo zenzero](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/510133) by Isidar Mithrim. 

> Hello everybody!  
I have a "little" premise ^^
> 
> As I’m sure you’ve gathered, this is a brief overview of the famous seventh year from Minerva’s pov. The story focus especially on her relationship with Neville during that period, and it’s organized in short, mostly unrelated scenes.  
I have to admit I don’t have super defined headcanons about the general situation at Hogwarts (while I do have in mind specific ‘imagines’ here and there, some of which you’ll find in here), and I happen to change my mind about how hard it actually was, so I was intentionally a bit vague with the timeline – the scenes are still to be considered as in chronological order, though.  
Lately I don’t imagine it being extremely harsh until the last months (or even until Easter break, when Ginny left), but for example the first scene it’s roughly on those line. May be right now I wouldn’t write it like I did several years ago anymore, but since I’m still fond of that scene and it wouldn’t work in other moments, I decided to leave it there ;)
> 
> Ps: The story can be read independently from ‘Falling down’ – there’s only a small direct reference, but you don’t need to read the story to understand it. Still, I’d selfishly suggest you to read the other story first, because I think/hope it adds something to this story as well ^^ (or better, to one or two of its scenes).

**Standing Up**

“Silence!” yelled Severus Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after a painfully short Sorting Ceremony.

The murmurs ceased instantly.

Snape stood up and looked with bored contempt at the tables full of hungry students.

“You’ll soon find out that this year there will be several... adjustments, here at Hogwarts. First of all, I introduce you Amycus Carrow, your new teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts” said Snape flatly.

The man at his left raised and nodded at the students, but only few Slytherins cheered him. 

“His sister Alecto, on the other hand, will teach Muggle Studies, which will be mandatory.”

Also the stocky woman at his right was applauded by a bunch of Slytherins only.

Minerva, on her part, glared at her, and felt a rush of satisfaction realising the Death Eater was barely taller than her even while standing.

“Professor Alecto and Amycus Carrow will also serve as my Deputy Headmaster, and as such they’ll be responsible of the discipline. Any rules violation will have to be notify to them, and the other teachers can’t assign a detention without reporting the rule-break and waiting for their approval first.”

Minerva’s lips got as thin as a razor while she listened to that folly once again.

“And now –”

She felt her stomach clenching when Longbottom’s hand shot in the air. She glanced at Snape: his eyes were narrowed, his lips curved down in disdain; she understood that he wasn’t about to let it go, and her bowels twisted even more.

“I wonder what’s so important that you can’t wait to end of the feast to share it, Mr Longbottom” sneered Snape.

“I’ve only got a question, _Sir_.” Longbottom had spoken calmly, but his voice was loud and clear. “I was wondering... do you reckon you’d get to be Headmaster, if you hadn’t murdered your predecessor?”

Minerva hold her breath, her eyes fixed on Neville, her heart pumping fast.

Pomona gently touched her hand, and only then she realised she was clenching her knife so hard that her knuckles had whitened.

“How dare you?” spat Snape, his voice filled of cold rage.

Alecto Carrow, though, was sneering smugly. “Let me handle this” she said to the Headmaster.

When Snape nodded and the Death Eater got up, Minerva felt Pomona’s fingers clenching on her wrist, and she wondered if it was in dreadful anticipation or to hold her still.

“Come closer, silly Gryffindor” said Alecto, a malignant glint in her eyes.

Longbottom stepped forward with a fierce expression, and Minerva felt a chill running on her back when he throw her a determined glance.

“Now you’ll see what happen to the people who don’t respect the rules” said the Death Eater snidely, raising her wand and grinning malevolent at the boy.

One moment Neville was standing few meters from them, holding her gaze without a blink. The next he was writhing on the ground, screaming in pain.

“NO!” yelled Minerva, her voice rising above the fearful cries of the students.

Neville’s shrieks ended in an instant when she pointed her wand at Alecto Carrow’s neck. Minerva didn’t even know if or how or she’d fought Pomona’s solid grip.

The Death Eater looked at her with wicked satisfaction. “Lower your wand, you old hag, or I’ll pick two brats among the first years to keep Longbottom company.”

Minerva stared at her, outraged, her wand hand trembling for the tension.

Within a moment, though, she collapsed on her chair, like drained of any energy.

You could have heard a mouse stirring in the Great Hall.

“You made the right choice, professor” gloated Alecto Carrow. “You can sit down, foolish boy.”

Neville had to push himself on his hands to stand up, his legs wobbling, and Minerva felt her eyes watering when he looked at her with pride and gratitude, before turning to reach his fellow Gryffindors.

She glared at Piton with hatred, feeling that somehow this treason was even worst than Albus’s murder.

*

“Make room!” ordered Minerva few hours later, working her way through the crowd of Gryffindors gathered before the Fat Lady.

“Professor, she’s not letting us in!” complained Robins.

“Yeah, she said the password has been changed!”

“I’m perfectly aware, Finnigan, since it was me who changed it.”

“What? Why?!”

“I believe Babbitty Rabbitty to be too impersonal. I reckon this year I’ll choose passwords that recall Gryffindor students’ exploits. The first will be _Hungarian Horntail_.”

The first year students looked perplexed, but the eldest cheered and clapped as she had just caught the Snitch.

***

It was still the first month of school when Longbottom passed by with a conspicuous cut on his left eyebrow.

“Longbottom!” she exclaimed, bewildered. “What happened to you?”

“Alecto Carrow” he answered simply. “I refused to write Muggleborns have stolen their magic, professor.”

Minerva looked at him for a long moment, an unwelcome anguish creeping in her guts.

She wanted to feel proud of him, she knew she should have been, but she unexpectedly yearned to say something very different. _Please, don’t fight them_, she wanted to beg. _I can’t protect you_.

“After your last lessons you’ll go to Madama Pomfrey to be treated, Longbottom” she said instead, trying to keep her voice even.

***

“Good morning, Minerva!” squeaked a cheerful professor Flitwick when they crossed path in the corridors.

“Good morning, Filius.”

“I suggest you to pass by the second floor, on your way to lunch” he whispered when he’d reached her, before walking away with perky steps.

Minerva followed his advice, extending the path between her classroom and the Great Hall to take a detour at the second floor.

She’d just climbed the last flight of stairs when she saw Filch walking down the corridor with Mrs Purr in tow, a bottle of _Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover _in one hand and a mop in the other. She had the sudden certainty that he’d lead her to the right spot.

“Bloody students!” she heard him swear. “If I’ll find out who did it, I’ll –”

“You what, Mr Filch?” asked Minervasternly.

“Professor!” exclaimed Filch, startled. “I… the Carrows…”

“It’s remarkable how hastily you forgot – _again _– how much Dumbledore has done for you” Minerva cut him off, her tone cold as ice. Mrs Purr was staring at her with narrowed eyes, and she glared back. “I doubt the Carrows would have been as accommodating as he was towards a Squib.”

Minerva put an end to his embarrassed babbling with a sharp gesture of her hand. “I don’t have time for your lame justifications, Mr Filch. I’d rather hear you explaining what happened” she said, resuming to walk along the corridor.

“Oh, yeah, well… This night some students got out of their dormitories and… and they made a graffiti…”

Minerva stopped. Now she’d seen the graffiti as well.

It was shining fluorescent in the exact spot where the Heir of Slytherin had left his message several years before.

_Dumbledore’s Army, Still Recruiting_

** **

Minerva felt her eyes prickling and her chest filling with a pride strong enough to overcome the fear for what could happen if the Carrows’d find out who was responsible for it.

“They said… they said I have to wipe it out, professor…” mumbled Filch.

Minerva recomposed herself. “Absolutely, Mr Filch. Good luck” she wished him.

He looked at her bewildered.

“And see that you don’t stop until you’ve removed it all.”

Filch nodded eager, clearly relieved that she’d agreed with Carrows’ directives.

Minerva took several steps before letting a smug smile crease her lips.

She was quite confident that _Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover _could nothing against the Permanent Charm she’d just summoned.

***

Minerva heard a knock on her door and rose her head from the scroll to see Longbottom standing on the doorframe, his right eye livid and swollen.

“Seamus told me you wanted to see me, professor.”

She sighed, trying to ignore the horror she’d felt at his sight.

“Exactly, Longbottom. Please sit down” she said sternly, gesturing at the hard chair in front of her desk.

He crossed her office and took a sit with ease. His expression was serene – determined, even – despite the black eye and the disheveled appearance, and for a moment she forgot she called him to scold him. She recalled another time he’d sat on that chair, when she had to told him the truth about Moody less then three years ago, and wondered what happened to that timid, insecure boy. She thought it’d be better if he hadn’t change at all, but a second later she regretted that shameful thought and pushed it away.

“Have a biscuit” she said, pushing a tartan tin of cookies towards him.

Longbottom’s eyes widened in surprise, and she suspected he was expecting a lecture too. Nonetheless, he thanked her for the offer and took a Ginger Newt without complains. He firmly hold her gaze while he chewed the biscuit, and somehow that brought her back to the right track.

“Would you care to explain what you were trying to prove, Longbottom?” she asked, her tone severe. “First you addressed the professors, and now this! What were you thinking?! Stealing Godric Gryffindor’s sword from the Headmaster office! Snape is furious, and I demand an explanation _immediately_.”

She’d expected to read sheepish regret on Longbottom’s face, but she only saw disappointment, and it stung more than she’d care to admit.

“We… we thought you were on our side, professor…”

Minerva laid her forehead on her hand and closed her eyes, sighing deeply to let the anger fade.

“Of course I’m on your side” she murmured at last, earning Longbottom’s surprised stare. “That’s way I’m so worried about you.”

An awkward silence fell in the office.

Willing to broke it, she cleared her throat.

“Have another biscuit” she said sharply, nodding at the tin box.

Longbottom complied at once, and she suspected she just offered him the perfect excuse to keep his mouth shut a bit longer. For an instant he’d almost seemed intimidated – a glimpse of the boy he once was. She couldn’t believe she could still have that effect on a student that survived two battles, and that in his own way was fighting the third one.

“Despite how hard it is to admit it, Longbottom, truth is _I can’t protect you_.”

He hastily swallowed the last bit of biscuit, obviously eager to answer, and she hoped she’d found the right thing to say.

“We know it, professor, but we don’t care.”

“I care!” exclaimed Minerva, her unexpressed resolution to stay calm already put to an end. “How do you think I feel seeing you enduring a new detention every week, knowing there’s nothing I can do to avoid it?”

Longbottom seemed almost moved, and Minerva regretted losing her patient again.

“We considered giving it your name, you know?” he said with a serene tone – sweet, even.

“Giving my name to what?” she asked curtly.

“To the Dumbledore’s Army” he said as it was the most obvious thing.

Her face must have showed her surprised, because Longbottom smiled gently and began to explain.

“We’re doing it for you as well, professor. We know you wish to stop them as much as we do, and we know the only reason you’re not interfering with Snape and the Carrows is to protect us. _You _should have been our Headmistress, and for a bit we thought giving your name to the D.A. could be a way to honor that… to give you what you deserved, and Snape had stolen.” 

Minerva felt her eyes stinging, and blinked hastily.

“But at the end we didn’t want to put you in trouble as it happened to Dumbledore, and in a way keeping his name feels like keeping him alive, you know? I mean, we know he’s gone, but… we think he’ll truly leave the school only when none here will be loyal to him… or to Harry.”

A tear run down her cheek.

“Why don’t you take a biscuit too? They’re good” said Longbottom with a warm smile, gesturing at the tin box.

Minerva was taken aback by his unorthodox offer, but she took a Ginger Newt and ate it in small bites. She felt indeed a bit comforted when she’d finished it.

She took a deep breath before speaking again.

“Listen to me carefully, Longbottom. It pains me deeply to admit it, but Dumbledore’s Army or not, without him Hogwarts isn’t a safe place anymore. You have to keep well in mind that the Carrows are _Death Eaters_. We don’t now how far they’re willing to push, and I fear that soon or later being a Pureblood won’t matter that much, after all. I beg you, don’t give them the chance to prove how ruthless they can be.”

Longbottom seemed let down by her words. “So… you want us to stop fighting?”

She sighed.

“I want you to be careful, and to understand there are worst things than being forced to write a nonsensical sentence. At least… pick your fight wisely, will you?”

Neville nodded, but it didn’t elude her that he hadn’t made any outspoken promise.

“You can go, now. Please tell Ginny Weasley I want to see her as well after her Charm class.” She didn’t expect that conversation to go any different, but it was still worth a try.

“I will.”

Longbottom had already gotten to the door when Minerva caught his attention once again.

“Neville… tell her I’m proud of you too.”

***

Minerva was horrified when she saw Longbottom’s purple and swollen face. She left her table and walked toward him in haste.

“Longbottom!” she exclaimed. “What have you done, this time?”

“He’s a chicken” someone laughed behind her, and she turned to see Crabble delighted sneer. Goyle was sniggering at his side, but he stopped immediately when she froze him with a glare.

“Thanks for your enlightening explanation, Mr Crabble. Now I kindly ask you to reach Slytherin’s table, thank you.”

He grunted his irritation, but didn’t dare arguing with her.

“Longbottom, I’m still waiting for an answer” she prompted him with a sharp tone.

“Amycus Carrow wanted us to practice the Cruciatus Curse, professor” he explained, his voice filled with a disdain she’d never heard from him before. “On the students in detentions.”

The horror she’d felt few minutes before looking at Longbottom’s face was nothing compared to the dread that was now twisting her stomach and making her knees wobble.

“He thought I was mocking him when I said I was willing to do it only on a Lestrange.”

***

“… I know you had a… _rough time _recently, but this is one of the most frequent task you’ll be asked to perform during your Transfiguration N.E.W.T., Mr Corner, so I suggest you to –”

Minerva was jolted when her classroom door slammed open and Amycus Carrow run in, his sister in tow.

“All of you, wands on the ground and hands on your desks where I can see them, and don’t you dare reaching for your wand!” shouted Alecto, her eyes moving back and forth among the students while Amycus stepped in front of Minerva, pointing his wand to her face with a malicious glint.

Eventually Alecto sweared in disappointment. “He’s not here!” she said to her brother, and he slammed his fists on the hard wood of Minerva’s desk, making her wince despite her effort to keep her rising anguish in check.

“Where the hell is he then?!” he shouted in her face.

Her heart was beating fast, but she spoked dryly and composed, clinging to the evidence that they hadn’t find whoever they were looking for – she was getting an idea of who he might have been, and that worried her even more. “I can hardly answer your question, if you won’t tell me who this ‘he’ is supposed to be first.”

“You know perfectly well who we’re talking about!” yelled Alecto. “You are hiding him, we know it!”

“I can assure you both I’m not hiding anyone, professors, unless you’d like to consider the otter I turned into a footrest at the beginning of the hour” she said with pretended calm, willing to keep them busy as long as she could. “Hopefully some student will be able to turn it back into its original form before the end of the lesson.”

“Don’t mock us, you old hag! He should have been here!” shouted Amycus, slamming his fists again. “Snape told us he had to be here!”

She felt a surge of hatred toward the traitor, but she clenched her hands upon her desk, her nails biting her palms’ skin, and kept the anger under control.

“I suggest you to solve this problem with the Headmaster, then, since you don’t seem keen to tell me who are you speaking about.”

“Longbottom!” exclaimed Alecto from the back of the classroom. “He got to be here! These are the seventh year students, we know that!”

Minerva felt her heart beating even faster hearing Longbottom’s name. She’d feared for a while that something like that could happened – they’d kidnapped Lovegood months ago, after all – but it was nonetheless terrifying knowing the moment had finally come.

“Longbottom hasn’t taken my class since his sixth year, I’m afraid.”

“But Snape said he was here!”

If she hadn’t been so scared for Longbottom, she’d probably be very annoyed by a similar show of stupidity.

“Then I suppose the Headmaster must have forgotten that piece of information.”

“You’re covering for him, I know it! Tell me were he is!” shouted Amycus.

She didn’t dare thinking what could happen to Neville if they’d find him, and she hoped with all her might that his fellow Gryffindors or the other D.A. members attending her class could reach him faster than she could. She was suddenly aware she’d made a huge miscalculation: keeping the Carrows in her class was a double-edged sword, or may be even an outright mistake, because until they were there none of the presents could warn Longbottom – she could even risk sending someone out with an excuse in front of Malfoy, but not in front of the Carrows.

“I’m not covering for him, and I’ve no idea where he is” she said curtly.

“You’re lying!” yelled Amycus, so enraged that drops of his spittle reached her face.

She didn’t care, though, because she’d just realised that Snape probably hadn’t sent them there by accident, despite what the Carrows might believe: forcing her to stay in her classroom – and under several Death Eater’s eyes, nonetheless – was the best way to keep her from helping Longbottom. Was Snape searching for him personally, then? A shiver run down her spine at the mere idea, and she dared a glance at Finnigan, hoping against hope for some good news; his eyes were fixed on his desk, though, and Alecto Carrows was near him, her wand high.

Minerva could only see one chance to send the Carrows out of the way, but she knew it was a lame try.

“Of course I’m not lying” she said with an indignant voice. “I gather you won’t believe me anyway, but I’m sure professor Snape can easily check it on the school records. You see, I don’t accept in my N.E.W.T. class students that earned less than an E at their Transfiguration O.W.L.; sadly, Longbottom only managed to grab an A during his examination.” And she’d never been more glad about it.

Amycus fixed her for a long moment while considering her suggestion, but to her chagrin he then turned toward Malfoy, who glanced at him hesitantly.

“Is it true that Longbottom isn’t in this class?” asked Carrow.

Malfoy nodded briefly before diverting his gaze.

Amycus sweared through gritted teeth, but a second later he widened his eyes, as he’d realised something important. “Well, it’s not our fault if Snape told us he was here, isn’t it?”

Alecto seemed pretty reassured by her brother’s words. “Yeah, he’ll have to blame himself if we don’t catch him! But we still have to look for him, don’t we?”

Minerva was about to suggest them to go back to Snape’s office to receive further instructions – another lame attempt, but it was worth a try – when Amycus straightened up and walked abruptly toward Finnigan.

“You!” he shouted. Unlike Malfoy, Finnigan held Carrow’s gaze with fierceness.

“Yes, sir?” he asked with pretended politeness.

“You sleep in Longbottom’s dorm!” Carrow shouted triumphantly, like that was the brightest statement he’d ever done.

“Yeah, I do” Finnigan said with a shrug. “So what?”

“So, when did you last see him?!” prompted Alecto, a greedy glint in her eyes.

“At breakfast, professor.”

“And where did he went afterward?”

“Well, I’m not be sure about that, ‘cause we split up when I came here. But… yeah, I remember he received a letter, and he hasn’t got his own owl, so may be he went to the Owlery?”

Minerva was ready to bet that – at least to Finningan’s knowledge – there were very slim chances to actually find Longbottom there, and hoped the Carrows took the bait.

Amycus pressed a menacing finger to Finnigan chest. “Do you really think we’re so stupid to believe any word you say?”

Minerva sweared inwardly, but kept her composure. “I wonder why you bothered asking, if you feel you can’t trust him.”

Amycus glared at her, then he turned and spoke to the whole class, his voice low and menacing. “If anybody knows or will know something about Longbottom and won’t come to me to inform us, I promise they’ll pay the consequences.”

“Yeah, we figured out that much” said Finnigan. Minerva wasn’t the only one who winced when Alecto lashed her wand in the air and a fresh cut appeared on Finnigan’s cheek, spilling blood on his robes. He merely raised a hand to press it on the wound, seemingly unperturbed.

Amycus looked at his sister. “We’re not starting from the Owlery” he said, and Minerva felt a shiver down her spine when Finnigan’s eyes widened in fear. In that moment, she saw what she had to do to help Longbottom escape.

She stood up. “I suppose you’ll want me to lead you to the Gryffindor Tower, then” she said to the Carrows, earning herself several surprised glances from her students, as she expected.

The two Death Eaters were taken aback as well.

“Are you playing us?” asked Amycus, aggressive.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare, and believe me when I say I’m not looking forward to your company. Although, I imagine it would be quite embarrassing if you’d spent hours searching for him pointlessly only to find out he’d never left his dorm, so I assumed that’s the next place you’re going to check, and I’d rather let you in myself than see you threatening one of my Prefect or annoying the Fat Lady once again.”

The Carrow exchanged a quick look.

“Well, she’s the Head of Gryffindor” said Alecto eventually.

“I’m quite flattered that you remembered, professor Carrow. It’s only a decade or two that I’m covering that role, after all.”

“Don’t speak to her like that, stupid hag! You’ll take us into the Gryffindor Tower _right now_!”

“Of course” she said accommodating. She then addressed her students, ready to play her last card. “As I’m sure you’ve inferred, the lesson is over, but I still hope you’ll take advantages of this free period to practice Transfiguration.”

At the end she risked a glance at Finnigan, and he rewarded her with the tiniest nod. Reassured, Minerva gestured to the Carrows to follow her and stepped forward, thanking Merlin that neither of them objected her decision to let the students go.

But when they got to the door, Amycus stopped abruptly. “Wait” he said, turning towards the students, who’d begun to get up. “You can’t go anywhere!”

Minerva’s heart sank, and she started imagining stunning the Carrows and running to the tower to warn Neville, no matter the cost.

“Draco, you stay here and make sure nobody’ll leave the classroom” ordered Amycus, and she was filled with relief. She was sure several persons were ready to get rid of Malfoy and stoically face the consequences, and she felt a rush of pride towards her students.

She was also positive that Finnigan knew way more secret passages to the tower than the Carrows did: he had six floors to outrun them, and she hoped with all her might that he’d reach Neville in time.

*

The Carrow forced her to endure a pace faster than she’d hoped for, and despite their lack of knowledge about the shortcuts to the seventh floor she feared they were gettin there too quickly.

They only had one flair of stairs left when they heard someone running at high speed above their heads, his steps heavy and fast.

The Carrows run towards the last floor and Minerva had to make an effort to stay in tow. Despite her short breath and the blood pulsing through her veins, heart she felt ready to use desperate measures to prevent the Carrows catching Longbottom, if it’d come to that.

As soon as they reached the seventh floor, the two Death Eaters sent a barrage of spells against a figure in front of them that she knew must been Longbottom. He summoned a Shield Charm without stopping, and a second later he turned the corner and they lost sight of him.

When they turned the corner as well, Minerva saw with horror that Neville was walking toward them, but after a moment he changed direction again, and a door suddenly appeared on the wall beside him. He hastily hided behind it, and Minerva was ready to non-verbally summon her best Locking Spell when the Carrows stopped abruptly with widened eyes and gaping mouths.

“Where the hell he went?!” shouted Amycus, looking back and forth, apparently unaware of the door on the wall at his right. “How did he managed to Disapparate?!”

Minerva sighed in relief, finally understanding whereLongbottom had just hidden, and grateful that he’d found a way to keep the Carrows out of the Room of Requirement. It wasn’t particularly reassuring that she could still got in – or see the door, at least – because who knew who else could too, but she hoped it was only due to the rush of the moment, and made a mental note to warn Finnigan of the problem.

“Look!” Alecto yelled, diverting her mind from her worries. The Death Eater was pointing at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. “It’s the seventh floor! It must be that Room! The Room of Hidden Things!”

“Malfoy’ll know how to get in!” Amycus said, a triumphant grin on his ugly face. “I’ll get him! You stay here with her so Longbottom can’t get out!”

But Longbottom didn’t try to get out, and neither Snape nor Malfoy – who apparently hadn’t been stunned (may be the D.A. knew how to communicate with Patronus, and had somehow managed to send Longbottom a message without Malfoy noticing?) – were able to see the door, let along breach into the Room.

By the time they gave up Minerva couldn’t see it either, and she had a very hard time hiding her delight.

***

“Very well then, Mr Coote” she said. “I’m happy that you’ve already made up your mind about your future, and that you seem well aware of the path you’ll need to follow. If you don’t have any other questions, you may go back to your class.”

Coote stood up. “I don’t have any question, professor, but… I’ve something for you” he said, taking her aback.

“Something for me?” she asked bewildered.

He didn’t explain further, but he flashed her an amused grin, and Minerva watched with wide eyes when he took a tartan tin out of his bag.

“_Somebody _heard you’ve almost run out of Ginger Newt” he explained with wink, putting the box on her desk.

She barely registered Coote leaving her office and saluting her with a nod, too taken by the tin in from of her.

She opened it with trembling fingers, and she instantly recognised the handwriting on the small bit of parchment above the biscuits.

It only said _thank you_, but it was more than enough.

***

She was chewing a mouthful of meat when a boy run in the Great Hall. Only when he stood up on Ravenclaw’s table she recognised him as Terry Boot.

“Harry Potter got into Gringotts and fled on a dragon!” he yelled triumphantly. “He robbed Gringotts and fled on a dragon!”

It’d been a while since the last time Minerva felt a similar rush hope.

_It was the first new about Harry she’d received in months._

While she was forced to watch Carrow torturing Boot, she felt the pride devours the horror.

*

Minerva couldn’t believe her hears. Could it be truth, what Carrow was saying? Could Harry _really _be at Hogwarts?

The fierceness she’d felt so vivid that evening rushed through her again, and when Carrow threatened to blame innocent kids for his ineptitude, she’d already made her choice.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :D  
Feel free to drop any feedback, suggestion, correction about the story or the translation, opinion about headcanons and so on ^^  
You can also find me on [tumblr](https://isidar-mithrim.tumblr.com)


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